NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - FDU Track and Field turned in an impressive effort at the 2026 NEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, as the men's team took fourth place with 89 points, and the women's team tied for fourth place with 94 points, finishing just one point behind Stonehill for third place. 

On the first day of competition, the Knights got their first medal of the event, as Justice Hicks grabbed a third place finish and a bronze medal in the Men's Long Jump, as he went out to 7.27 meters to grab the first podium finish for FDU. 

The Knights scored big in the Women's Hammer Throw event, as they have all season long, indoors and outdoors. Tata Coulibaly defended her NEC Indoor Hammer Throw title by winning the outdoor event by throwing a mark of 51.63 meters to take the gold. Right behind her was graduate thrower Laila Davis, who took third in the event, by hitting 49.45 meters with her throw to clinch the bronze. 

FDU capped off the first day of events with a second place finish in the Men's 4x800 meter relay, as the Knights squad of Liam Schwabik, Brandon Barreto, Zach Cader, and Chase Lopez clocked a time of 7:46.03 to take the silver medal in a tightly contested race. 

The Knights picked up on the momentum from the first day on the second day of events, as FDU got the day started with a bronze medal from Iyanna Bennett, as she jumped 11.65 meters to finish in third in the Women's Triple Jump, her best finish in a triple jump all season. 

FDU continued to make noise in the field events, as Everton Bills was the next Knight to medal, as Bills threw a distance of 46.92 meters to take silver in the Men's Discus event for FDU, scoring a big eight points for the men's team. Joshua Gresham and Xavier Hayletts both also helped the cause for the men's team, both adding bronze medals on Sunday, as Gresham clocked a speedy time of 48.44 seconds to take third in the Men's 400 meter dash. Hayletts also grabbed a bronze medal in the Men's 100 meter dash, clocking a time of 10.57 seconds. 

Just as the sprints were concluding, the Knights women's 4x100 relay team got to work, and grabbed the team a big eight points, as the group of Juline Nwosu, Tata Coulibaly, Reyanna Trail, and Sianna Lloyd ran a time of 47.82 seconds to take the silver in the event. 

Chase Lopez capped off his stellar season Sunday at the NEC Championships, as he grabbed another silver in the Men's 800 meter run with a time of 1:53.62 to take his second silver medal in the same event, as he placed in second at the indoor event in 2026. 

The Knights got another win from Ethan Ruffin, who continued his reign on the NEC, as Ruffin has gone undefeated in all of his NEC events, winning the indoor event twice, as well as the outdoor. Ruffin leaped a height of 2.15 meters to win the gold, the second of the meet for FDU. 

FDU capped off the meet with a pair of silver medals, as Emmanuella Koroma took second in the 400 meter hurdles event with a time of 1:05.42, and the women's 4x400 relay group of Koroma, Nya Blades, MacKenna Calvin, and Courtney Adams took second in the event with a time of 3:56.51. 
 

WHAT'S NEXT

This concludes the track and field season for most of the FDU Knights. Select Knights will compete in the Ramapo Last Chance Invite, with some planning on taking part in the NCAA East Regional in Lexington, Kentucky.